The existence of a natural resources curse is widely accepted in academic and policy circles. With its focus on institutional quality, the resource curse thesis is symptomatic of the current "good governance" agenda. This paper subjects the thesis to critical evaluation and finds it wanting. It...

This paper synthesizes findings from a range of studies presented at a recent conference on the financial crisis held at the Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS). Focusing on low and lower-middle income countries, the studies explore the impacts, responses and initial lessons of the...

Recent years have seen a considerable shift in economic conditions in sub-Saharan Africa. Economic growth has been robust, international reserves are on the rise and levels of external debt are falling. Combined with the global boom in commodity prices, as well as expansion of Chinese interests...

This paper examines the revenue effects of certified organic contract farming and of use of organic farming methods in a tropical African context. These are compared with "organic by default" conventional farming systems without contractual relations. Survey data from a medium-size cocoa-vanilla...